"Military Drums" is a song by German synthpop band

Hubert Kah Hubert Kah is a German synthpop band, led by Hubert Kemmler (born 22 March 1961 in Reutlingen). Kemmler is a German musician, composer, songwriter and producer. Biography Kemmler's career began as a member of a trio named Hubert Kah, consis ...

, released in 1987 as a non-album single. The song was written by

Michael Cretu Michael Cretu ( ro, Mihai Crețu, ; born 18 May 1957) is a Romanian-German musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He gained worldwide fame as the founder and musician behind the musical project Enigma, which he formed in 1990. Cret ...

(music) and Susanne Müller-Pi (lyrics), and produced by Cretu and . In 1987, "Military Drums" was added as the opening track on a "special edition" Germany-only reissue of the band's 1986 album '' Tensongs''. The song was also included on the US and Japanese editions of the band's 1989 album '' Sound of My Heart''. In 2005, Hubert Kemmler re-recorded the song for the sixth Hubert Kah album, ''Seelentaucher''.

Background

Speaking of the song, Hirschburger recalled to James Arena in 2017: " t was writtenin about 10 minutes in Ibiza feeling very jet lagged. We added trumpets, recorded it in about five hours and launched it as a single." The song features

Carol Kenyon Carol Kenyon (sometimes spelt Karol; born 1959) is a British singer. She is best known for her vocals on the Heaven 17 hit song "Temptation", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1983. When the song was re-released as a remix by ...

on backing vocals. "Military Drums" was the band's first single to enter the US '' Billboard'' Hot Dance Music Club Play chart, peaking at No. 8 in November 1987. It was also the band's last Top 40 hit in Germany, reaching No. 35.

Promotion

The song's music video was directed by

Rudi Dolezal Rudi Dolezal ( sl, Doležal, born 5 February 1958) is an Austrian film producer and film director best known for his music videos. He has directed and produced videos for artists such as Tom Waits, the Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa, David Bowie, M ...

and

Hannes Rossacher Hannes Rossacher (born 16 October 1952, Steyr) is an Austrian film director and film producer. Rossacher has worked with Rudi Dolezal since 1976 in their production company DoRo Productions. His contributions to the ORF youth program "Ohne Maulko ...

DoRo Productions DoRo Produktion Ges.mbH DoRo Productions is a film company based in Vienna, Austria. DoRo was named after the surnames of founders Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher. History Dolezal and Rossacher, also known as the "Torpedo Twins", first start ...

. On its release, Rossacher described the video as "slightly avant-garde". The video makes the use of speed manipulation which was achieved by shooting the video on six frames per second. On German TV, the band performed the song on ''ZDF-Hitparade'' on 20 August 1987.

Critical reception

Upon its release, '' Billboard'' described the song as a "Euro-influenced techno number".

Track listing

;7" single #"Military Drums" - 3:41 #"Explain the World in a Word" - 4:11 ;12" single (European release) #"Military Drums" (Extended Version) - 6:27 #"Explain the World in a Word" - 4:11 ;12" single (US release) #"Military Drums" (Extended Version) - 6:27 #"Military Drums" - 3:41 #"Explain the World in a Word" - 4:11 ;12" single (US promo) #"Military Drums" (Extended Version) - 6:27 #"Military Drums" (Edited Version) - 3:14 #"Military Drums" - 3:41 ;12" single (US promo #2) #"Military Drums" (Crossover Radio Edit) - 3:50 #"Military Drums" (Powermix) - 5:20 #"Military Drums" (LP Edit Version) - 3:14 #"Military Drums" (Dance Edit By Ali Lexa) - 6:50 ;CD single (German release) #"Military Drums" (Extended Version) - 6:27 #"Explain the World in a Word" - 4:11 #"Military Drums" (7" Version) - 3:41 ;CD single (German release #2) #"Military Drums" (Extended Version) - 6:27 #"Explain the World in a Word" - 4:11 #"Limousine" (Extended Version) - 5:40 #"Something I Should Know" (Remix Version) - 3:27 #"Military Drums" (Video Version) - 3:38

Personnel

Hubert Kah * Hubert Kemmler – vocals * Markus Löhr – guitar, keyboards * Klaus Hirschburger – bass *

– backing vocals Production *

, – producers * Boris Granich, Christer Modig – remixers on "Crossover Radio Edit" and "Powermix" * Ali Lexa - remixer on "Dance Edit By Ali Lexa" Other * Mike Schmidt at Ink Studios – cover * Dieter Eikelpoth – photography

Charts

References

{{authority control Songs about the military Songs about drums 1987 songs 1987 singles Curb Records singles Songs written by Michael Cretu Song recordings produced by Michael Cretu